Tulsa World: Speedy Jackson aims to fill Wimberly's shoes

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Speedy Jackson aims to fill Wimberly's shoes
Drillers newcomer had 39 stolen bases last year at Single-A Modesto despite being injured.

New Drillers center fielder Anthony Jackson will try to follow in the footsteps of former Driller Corey Wimberly. Wimberly, a friend of Jackson's, racked up 59 stolen bases last season for Tulsa. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

By BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
Published: 4/7/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 4/7/2009 4:51 AM

New Tulsa center fielder Anthony Jackson would like to enjoy similar base-stealing success as Corey Wimberly had for the Drillers the past two years.

Wimberly, the Texas League's stolen-base champion in 2007 and 2008, had 59 stolen bases last year. He became the first Driller to surpass 50 since Bob Brower had 54 in 1984.

During the offseason, Wimberly was traded by the Colorado Rockies and is in the Oakland Athletics farm system this year.

"Corey's a friend, so I'm going to give him a call and tell him I'm going to try and beat him from last year," Jackson said with a laugh on Monday afternoon before Tulsa's first workout at Drillers Stadium after leaving spring training in Tucson. "He's one of the guys when I came to the Rockies organization that came up to me and gave me some advice, and we became good friends."

Jackson, who will be the leadoff hitter for the Drillers' 2009 season when they open at Corpus Christi on Thursday night, would like to build on the breakout year he had in 2008. Last year at high Single-A Modesto (Calif.), he had 39 stolen bases despite missing 33 games with an injury. He batted .298 after posting only a .245 average over his first two pro seasons.

"He reminds me of Corey Wimberly," Drillers manager Stu Cole said.

Both Wimberly and Jackson are 5-foot-8 and switch-hitters.

Jackson, whose hometown is Modesto, grew up as an Oakland fan and his favorite player was all-time major league stolen base king Rickey Henderson.

"I got to go to their games a lot and he was my dad's favorite player," Jackson said. "We always watched him and I'd like to be like him."

Jackson, 24, is looking forward to playing for Cole, who has an aggressive baserunning philosophy.

"I like that he's aggressive and likes to steal bases and likes to get things going," Jackson said. "That's the kind of game I like to play, and that will be to my advantage."

Jackson, a 16th-round draft choice from the University of the Pacific, enjoyed playing in Modesto last year. He has been impressed by his early look at Tulsa.

"It's a real nice place," Jackson said. "I like all the trees around here and this is a nice stadium. I'm glad that the season's here and I want to get us off to a good start as the first hitter Thursday."

Chacin selected: Jhoulys Chacin, who was 18-3 in Single-A last year, was named by Cole as Tulsa's starting pitcher for Thursday's opener.

Rodriguez traded: The Drillers reached the Texas League roster limit of 24 when pitcher Aneury Rodriguez was traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Tampa Bay Rays for pitcher Jason Hammel on Sunday. Rodriguez was 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA for Modesto last year. Hammel was 4-4 with a 4.60 ERA at Tampa Bay in 2008.

Ex-Drillers released: Jeff Dragicevich, a utilityman who spent parts of the last three seasons with the Drillers, was released last week by the Rockies. He batted .272 with nine homers and 42 RBIs for Tulsa last season. Also released was outfielder Justin Nelson, whose 20 homers last year were second on the Drillers.

Rick Guarno, a catcher for Tulsa the last two seasons, also was released along with pitcher Josh Hall, who went 1-2 in four starts for the Drillers last year.

Former Oral Roberts catcher Brian Aguailar, who played last year for low Single-A Asheville, also was released from the Rockies farm system.

DRILLERS KEY DATES

Thursday: Season opener at Corpus Christi

April 16: Home opener vs. Corpus Christi

June 23: First half ends

July 1: Texas League All-Star Game at Frisco, Texas

Sept. 7: Final regular-season game at Drillers Stadium

Barry Lewis 581-8393
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com By BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer

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